Haitian Society Today: A socio-economic status report from the ECVH Interim Cooperation Framework Identification Exercise. Port-au-Prince, May 9th 2004

Étude sur les Conditions de Vie en Haïti Nationwide, household sample survey of 7812 households –Data collected in 2001 –92 percent response rate –Representative on the department level Outputs –Tabulation report : Published –Database: available at ICC –Draft analytical report: available at ICC –Also used for… o Poverty Profile (MEF 2003) o Input to political dialogue on poverty and development priorities, Oslo Dimensions

Outline of presentation Resources: What is there to build on? –Physical, human, social capitals How are resources used today? –Labour force and income sources What are the results of current adaptations? –Well being, income poverty

An agricultural economy facing change Small-holding agriculture is still Haitis economic backbone –Two-thirds of the population live in rural areas (down from 75 percent in 1982) –Three-quarters of rural population have access to land, mostly owned –Subsistence production on small units with no capital inputs Informal, rentier urban economy –Employment rates are low overall; one-third of income is transfers –Two-thirds of workers are self-employed; more wage-work in PauP –But jobs, services, income levels attracts migrants to the capital; half of resident population were born outside A Farewell to Farms? –Land erosion threatens rural productive base –Subdivision of land has reached its limit –Transfers retire workers from low-productivity agriculture; not invested in agricultural capital –Education pulls people from farming to non-agricultural rural and urban sectors

Trois ménages ruraux sur quatre ont accès à une parcelle En moyenne 1,8 parcelle par ménage agricole Lexploitation moyenne est de 1,8 ha / 1,4 carreau Une corrélation proche entre le nombre de parcelles et la taille totale de lexploitation –Mais différences régionales: Artibonite possède le nombre le plus faible de parcelles et les exploitations les plus grandes No strong income-land concentration

Une grande majorité des parcelles sont dirigés par les propriétaires 82 % des parcelles (ou terres) sont la propriété des exploitants eux-mêmes Des types de tenure combinés sont rares –76 % des exploitants possèdent toute leur terre –7 % sont des métayers Mais pas de titres de propriété pour plusieurs des parcelles possédées –40% de lopins nont pas de titre formel de possession

Machette et houe sont les outils agricoles les plus répandus 95 % des agriculteurs ont accès à une machette et la plupart en possède une 76 % ont accès à léquipement de base du fermier: la machette et la houe –Seulement 60 % possède les deux Léquipement mécanisé fait pratiquement défaut –5 % ont accès à une charrue – pour la plupart louée ou empruntée Only 15 percent of cultivators apply modern agro-inputs –Mostly among rice farmers in the Artibonite Production is exclusively non-export –Corn, haricot, petite mille (sorghum), plaintain, manioc –Single-crop production only among Artibonite rice farmers

60% des terres ont un risque dérosion plus élevé que la moyenne La majorité des ménages considèrent lérosion comme une problème sérieux Plus de 90 % des ménages utilisent principalement le bois ou le charbon pour la cuisson Données: UTSIG Carte / Donnes: UTSIG

Key infrastructure is absent outside of Port au Prince Access to infrastructure is limited overall –8 % access to piped water And concentrated in the PauP –Where quality is poor

Households in countryside and regional towns own their dwellings 90 percent of rural households own their dwelling –But half lack legal documentation In Aire Metropolitain, the majority rent –Across the income distribution, but more ownership in highest quintile

Literacy rates have improved significantly Adult literacy now stands at 54 percent Urban-rural gap has decreased Women have caught up on men –Gender gap is gone among year old Literacy by age and region Age Aire Métropolitaine Autre urbain Rural

Nearly half of rural children are not enrolled in primary school Net primary enrolment is 60 % Rural-urban gap persists Gender gap is gone –And women may be passing men 75 percent of children have more education than their parents

The schooling generation faces serious quality problems Late start (graph) –Maxmimum primary enrolment reached at the age of 12 Incomplete cycles –84% des ans ont réussi la première année fondamentale, 50% ont terminé lécole primaire et un quart seulement ont achevé les trois cycles de lécole fondamentale (9ème année) Teachers training –74 percent of teachers do not have the baccalaureate –In private schools, only 12 percent of teachers have baccaluareate (Source: IHSI 2000)

Insuffisance pondérale plus répandue parmi les femmes haïtiennes que les autres femmes de lAmérique Latine 11 pour cent des femmes haïtiennes ont un poids insuffisant –Nord-Ouest, Grand- Anse, Nord-Est have highest rates –La surcharge pondérale est un problème à venir en Haïti Similar decrease in malnutrition among children found by DHS surveys –From % (94/95) to % (2000) –Source EMMUS II & III

Health status deteriorates quickly from the mid 40s 29 percent of adult population have a reduced mobility level 17 percent of adults have major mobility problem, but increases rapidly from the 40s Only 25 percent of adult women report own health as good or very good Half of those with acute illness in the past two weeks did not seek help, mainly because of the costs

Macro social cohesion threatened in urban areas 60 percent of urban dwellers feel personal fear in their own homes –But household level inter- personal relations are strong; important safety nets Fear of crime less widespread in rural areas –The importance of collective, voluntary work teams show social strengths

Transfers reduce labour force participation Economic activity rates are low and unemployment is high –Only 45 percent of adults are employed –Total LF participation is 59 percent Permitted by large inflow of transfers –31 percent of households have close relatives abroad; mainly US –In Aire Metropolitain, half of households have close relatives abroad –One-third of annual, urban household income is transfer

Majority of workers are self-employed in agriculture, trade 79 percent of the workforce are self-employed –In Aire Metropolitain, 44 percent are wage workers, including 7 percent in public sector –In urban areas, commerce and trade is dominant sector (37-38 %) –Manufacturing employs 7 percent of workforce, 15 percent in Aire Metropolitain –Agriculture now accounts for less than half of national workforce (44 %) –Even in rural areas, only about half of households live from farming Migrants are not deterred by high unemployment in PauP –Half of residents in the Aire Metropolitain not born here –In the southern departements, 40 percent leave before their mid 20s –But overall, population is stationary: 85 percent live where they were born –Migrants catch up with permanent residents on education, jobs, income

Income poverty is pervasive outside of Aire Metropolitain 67 percent of rural population live in extreme poverty Nord Est, Nord Ouest have highest poverty rates Consumption poverty may have decreased during the 1990s –And expenditure data would yield lower poverty rates

And income inequality is extreme Reflecting huge income differences between and within rural and urban areas But important livelihood security mechanisms exist in rural areas –Land ownership (82 %) –Home ownership (90%) –Plot diversification (1.9 per farm) –Crop diversification (3.6 per farm) –Self-consumption (28 % of rural HH inc)

Focus on the fundamentals Results demonstrate acute deficiencies in fundamental conditions for economic growth in general and a heritage of rural neglect in particular In the first phase, policies should focus on improving those fundamentals, notably… –Infrastructure: electricity, roads, garbage collection –Law enforcement –Primary education Special emphasis must be given to rural areas in all sector policies and state must engage agricultural sector On longer term, development policies must make difficult decisions on the role of agriculture versus other sectors –Allocation of required investments must be weighed against other needs and sectors –Tariff protection policies must assess distributive impact –Livelihood security easily disrupted by interventions